BMW takes a sustainable approach to car building

The BMW Group put sustainability at the centre of its presence at the IAA Mobility show with an emphasis on CO2 targets. In a bid to help combat climate change, the Group is bolstering its objectives that were announced last year, to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Plans to reduce the entire life cycle CO2 emissions of a vehicle by at least 40%, will require a focus on production and upstream supply chains.

Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of the BMW Group, said: “How companies are dealing with CO2 emissions has become a major factor when it comes to judging corporate action. The decisive factor in the fight against global warming is how strongly we can improve the carbon footprint of our vehicles over their entire life span.”

During the next decade, the company will be putting around ten million all-electric vehicles on the road. By 2030, BMW Group is forecasting that at least half of its global sales will be of electric vehicles, with the MINI brand only offering pure-electric vehicles from 2030. With the BMW i Vision Circular, the BMW Group is demonstrating the consistent design of a car according to the principles of a circular economy. The overall design goal was to create a vehicle that achieves a 100% rate for recycled materials or has 100% recyclability.

In addition to bio-based and certified raw materials, materials that have already passed through a product life cycle – so-called secondary materials – are used for this purpose. The aims also applies to the battery pack, as the solid-state battery is 100% recyclable and is made from almost completely recycled materials.